"U.S. attorney ousted, judge says": The Grand Rapids Press today contains an article that begins, "U.S. Attorney Margaret Chiara -- the top federal prosecutor in West Michigan and the post's first woman -- is being asked to resign as part of a controversial shake-up across the country, the region's chief federal judge said today."

"Little Rock Freed of Deseg Supervision": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A judge in one of the nation's longest-running school desegregation cases released the Little Rock district from federal supervision Friday, nearly 50 years after President Eisenhower sent in troops to escort nine black students into all-white Central High."

"High court ruling in Gloucester case defines bad faith in bankruptcy filings": The Salem News yesterday published an article that begins, "A Gloucester man who fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to convert his bankruptcy case to allow him to keep some assets lost his battle yesterday when the nation's highest court agreed with previous rulings that he acted in bad faith by not disclosing assets to creditors."Posted at 04:20 PM by Howard Bashman"MP3 Ruling Could Haunt Music Tech Firms": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A federal jury's ruling that Microsoft infringed on two MP3 patents and must pay $1.52 billion in damages could turn into a major sour note for other technology companies in the digital music business."

"In Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Congress has granted broad immunity to entities, such as Lycos, that facilitate the speech of others on the Internet." So holds a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a ruling issued today.

The court's opinion begins:

Plaintiffs Universal Communication Systems, Inc. and its chief executive officer, Michael J. Zwebner, (collectively, "UCS") brought suit, objecting to a series of allegedly false and defamatory postings made under pseudonymous screen names on an Internet message board operated by Lycos, Inc. UCS identified two of the screen names as having been registered to Roberto Villasenor, Jr. UCS sued not only Villasenor and the other posters of messages, as John Does, but also Lycos and Terra Networks, S.A., Lycos's corporate parent at the time of the postings in question.

Today's ruling affirms the dismissal of all of the plaintiffs' claims.Posted at 02:58 PM by Howard Bashman"Is This America? Canada apologizes to its citizen kidnapped by CIA; U.S. keeps him on its terror list." Nat Hentoff has this essay online at The Village Voice.Posted at 02:33 PM by Howard Bashman"Mom can't fathom son's jailing; Wrightwood woman takes up cause of federal shield law for reporters":This article appears today in The San Bernardino County Sun.

"'Philip Morris' Punitives Ruling May Contain Silver Lining for Plaintiffs": That's the tentative title for the next installment of my "On Appeal" column for law.com, scheduled to be posted online around 10 p.m. eastern time tonight.Posted at 12:22 PM by Howard BashmanAppellate judge decides to "Judge not, that ye be not judged": For the second time in three days, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued opinions containing a footnote that says, "Circuit Judge Moore heard oral argument in this appeal but subsequently determined not to participate, taking no position in the decision of the case." If anyone can figure out what's going on in these cases (see here and here), I'd love to hear your theory via email.Posted at 11:37 AM by Howard Bashman"Wait, Wait, Your Honor": At WSJ.com's "Washington Wire" blog today, Jess Bravin has a post that begins, "The tables will turn on Justice Stephen Breyer next month, when instead of posing obscure questions at Supreme Court arguments, he'll be answering them -- with no clerks to help on research. In an apparent first, Breyer will appear on a quiz show, as the celebrity guest on the March 17 installment of 'Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!,' a weekly National Public Radio program featuring a panel of wits wisecracking about the week’s news." You can access the radio program's web site at this link.Posted at 10:55 AM by Howard Bashman"Hacker helps put judge in prison for child porn; Canadian whiz acted as 'vigilante' to find dozens of predators": The Ottawa Citizen today contains an article that begins, "Nearly a decade after he began his career as a teenage 'vigilante hacker,' a Canadian computer whiz says it was 'definitely satisfying' to learn this week that his most high-profile target -- a disgraced California judge -- has finally been sentenced in a landmark child-pornography case that sparked widespread legal debate over the actions of 'Citizen Tipster' Bradley Willman."

"Court strikes down security certificates": The Toronto Globe and Mail provides a news update that begins, "The Supreme Court of Canada has voted unanimously to strike down a controversial federal procedure used to deport suspected terrorists as being a violation of life, liberty and security of the person."

"A Congressional Duty: Legislators should not expect courts to undo the lawmakers' error of depriving foreign detainees of a fundamental right."This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.Posted at 08:04 AM by Howard Bashman"MP3 Patents in Upheaval After Verdict": The New York Times today contains an article that begins, "Microsoft was ordered by a federal jury yesterday to pay $1.52 billion in a patent dispute over the MP3 format, the technology at the heart of the digital music boom. If upheld on appeal, it would be the largest patent judgment on record."

"Breaking into Journalism":This article appears in the current issue of The Harvard Law Record.Posted at 07:35 AM by Howard Bashman"The Supreme Court Is At the Tipping Point: Should A Democratic Senate Prevent Bush From Creating A Solidly Conservative Court? An Historic Perspective, and Some Advice to the Senate." John W. Dean has this essay online today at FindLaw.Posted at 06:40 AM by Howard Bashman